Japan to Sell Carbon Credits Backed by Home Solar Power, Electric Car Use

Japan’s government plans to sell carbon credits backed by greenhouse-gas reductions that households make using solar power systems or electric cars, a trade ministry official said today.

The government will earn credits when homes use subsidies to install equipment to lower their carbon footprints under the program, Tadahiko Kozaki, deputy director of the environment office at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said today in an interview. The credits will be sold to companies that want to offset their own emissions, he said.

The ministry is seeking 90 billion yen ($1.1 billion) for clean-energy subsidies to support products such as solar power systems, electric cars and batteries, according to a plan for the next fiscal budget, released on Aug. 30. The ministry expects the aid to spur sales of 170,000 solar power systems and about 30,000 electric cars.

The program may generate credits covering about 185,000 tons of avoided carbon dioxide emissions, Kozaki said. Selling the credits to companies will partly offset the cost of the subsidies, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tsuyoshi Inajima in Tokyo at tinajima@bloomberg.net.

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